Another bolt of lightning, this time not five feet in front of her.

Once again, she was thrown backward. Her hair stood up and crackled, and her ears felt like they would explode.

She had seen the bolt of lightning arc out of the sky and slash into the air, in front of her eyes.

This time, Zoe stayed on the ground.

She blinked her eyes for a full minute. When the residual flash from her vision cleared, she looked closely in front of her. There was a smoking crater in the sand, in the middle of the beach, not five feet from her.